Joanna Slattery
Joanna holds a master’s degree in Human Rights from University College London (UCL), where she specialised in the rights of women and children. She has worked extensively on child protection in the digital sphere, contributing to legislative developments in the UK and EU and managing the drafting of a General Comment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Following this, she moved into educational technology, working for an online platform that teaches global citizenship and enables safe, educational connections between young people around the world, where students from Afghanistan led her to work with Mosaic. She now focuses on Mosaic's education, youth dialogue and operational projects.
Chris Blackburn
Chris is Mosaic’s Director of Strategic Communications with over two decades of experience in international relations, economic development, security, and public diplomacy. He also serves as Communications Director of the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) and is a co‑founder of Global Friends of Afghanistan (GFA). He has advised NGOs, think tanks, political campaigns, and private organisations on strategic communications and geopolitical affairs. Earlier in his career, Chris worked with investigative teams involved in the 9/11 lawsuits in the United States and helped organise Intelcon and the Intelligence Summits, public conferences shaped by the 9/11 Commission’s outreach work. He writes regularly on international affairs, South Asia, and strategic diplomacy for outlets such as Firstpost and The Global Order. He has been recognised as a “Friend of Bangladesh” for his advocacy on the 1971 genocide and has received acknowledgement from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his contributions to international relations and security dialogue.
Natiq Malikzada
Natiq is a journalist and human rights researcher whose work focuses on the Middle East and South Asia. He holds an MA in International Relations, specialising in Middle East Studies, and an LLM in International Human Rights Law, which he completed as a Chevening Scholar. He is a columnist on Middle Eastern affairs for The National Interest and writes for major international newspapers on South Asia, West Asia and broader geopolitical issues. His research and commentary often centre on questions of rights, governance and the dynamics of authoritarianism. Natiq serves as a Research Fellow at Mosaic Global Foundation, where his work includes contributing to the organisation’s research on human rights, particularly gender apartheid, one of Mosaic’s flagship areas of focus. He also advises Mosaic on strategic communications and public messaging.
Marwa Ahmadi
Marwa is a project management professional with experience across research, stakeholder engagement, and operational delivery in international and multi-stakeholder environments. She holds a Master’s degree in Emerging Economies and International Development from King's College London, where she conducted extensive research on the UK’s migration policies. Alongside her corporate background, she works on advocacy and refugee rights initiatives and volunteers as an interpreter supporting Persian-speaking refugees and asylum seekers. At Mosaic, she contributes to strategic communications, partnerships, organisational growth, and advocacy initiatives. Her interests include foreign policy, women’s rights, migration and development, and policy issues affecting Afghanistan and the wider region.
Tanya Goudsouzian
Tanya is a Canadian journalist with more than two decades of experience reporting across South Asia and the Middle East, including from conflict and post-conflict zones. She has interviewed political leaders across the spectrum and held senior editorial roles at Al Jazeera English in Doha and TRT World in Istanbul. A regular commentator on current affairs, her op-eds have been published in The Washington Post, Responsible Statecraft, The National Interest, Newsweek, Le Monde Diplomatique and Elcano Royal Institute, among others. She advises the Mosaic Foundation on strategic communications and initiatives related to peace and cooperation in Central Asia, and serves on the advisory board of the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development.